Mysterious pair of overlapping circles with a diamond inside believed to be navigation markers for space craft

Compound is 20 miles from nearest town and has a landing strip and its own water supply

MailOnline can today reveal the first close-up pictures of the Church of Scientology’s ‘alien space cathedral’ built in a remote part of the New Mexico desert.

The mysterious building which leads to an underground vault sits next to two giant symbols carved into the ground – believed to be markers for the religion’s followers to find their way back from the ends of the universe after humanity is destroyed in the future.

While no one knows the definite meaning of the pair of overlapping circles, each with a diamond in them, it is believed to have been trademarked by the Church of Technology, a branch of Scientology.

It is believed that they are a ‘return point’ so members of the church know where they can find the works of founder L. Ron Hubbard when they come back from space after a nuclear catastrophe wipes out the human race.

For behind the three-story house are tunnels dug hundreds of feet deep into the rock. Inside them are Hubbard’s texts, believed to have been either engraved on stainless steel tablets or gold discs and encased in titanium capsules underground.

Previously, the world has only seen grainy satellite images and blurry pictures of the top-secret Trementina Base, but these are the first fascinating photographs of the structure up-close.

The aerial pictures taken from a helicopter show the house-like structure that covers the entrance to the vault.

Green and beige, the house is built against a flat, stone buttress that blends into the mountain itself.

Down a paved path is a mile-long landing strip, water storage units as well as several RV trailers. The entire complex of buildings and temporary structures sits atop 50-60 acres nestled in the heart of the New Mexico desert 20 miles west of the nearest town of Las Vegas.

During a recent flyover, the compound appeared uninhabited, except for a solitary dog walking the grounds.

Tim Gallagos, ex-police chief of the Las Vegas, New Mexico, Sheriff’s Department, was given a tour of the vault by church officials in the late 1990s.

He is believed to be the only non-Scientologist to have ever visited the site.

He told MailOnline that within the stone walls are several machines for copying the works of Hubbard.

He explained: ‘They were transferring writings, speeches and videos. This vault is like a giant time capsule and they told me all the scriptures are being kept there.’

Gallagos was also given a tour of the ‘welcome center,’ built with a small courtyard in the middle, though he told us he only saw two people on the entire tour.

He described to us the small living quarters nearby: ‘The house next to the vault had a small room, kitchen and living area, but there was no technology – no phone, TV, internet. I wouldn’t want to live there.’

He explained why he asked for a tour of the complex.

‘I visited the base because we wanted to dispel the rumors that there were cameras in the trees and sharp shooters hiding everywhere, waiting to kill anyone who entered.

‘I didn’t see that, but my visit was planned and so they wouldn’t show me any bad side [if there was one].’

‘It did feel like they were hiding something. I wasn’t allowed to go into certain areas. I know when people are lying to me, I can tell from their body language and voice they were concealing something.’

He added, ‘I was suspicious of it, the whole thing.’

Ex-Scientologists told BBC journalist John Sweeney that the ‘alien space cathedral’ was built deep underground by the church in the 1980s at the cost of millions of dollars.

In his book The Church of Fear – Inside the Weird World of Scientology, he reports how he was told the vault ‘houses the lectures of church founder L Ron Hubbard on gold discs locked in titanium caskets sealed with argon. The cathedral is H-bomb proof, protected by three 5,000lb stainless steel airlocks.’

He adds: ‘Experts say the weird signs on top of the mountain will guide Clears, [high-ranking Scientologists] returning from space to find Hubbard’s works after a nuclear Armageddon wipes out humanity.’